The guests are greeted without incident. After, following the tour of the ship by the guests, the Enterprise is hit by a plasma storm. An antimatter cascade occurs, nearly destroying the Enterprise. Without the actions of an anti-saboteur, who unplugged an antimatter conduit before the storm, destruction would have been certain.

At this point, a crewman named Daniels begins explaining strange things to CaptainArcher. He talks about the events of a Temporal Cold War, and claims that the 22nd century is seen as an important front in the war. Archer is skeptical at first, but is convinced when Daniels shows him amazing technological devices, such as the temporal observatory. Daniels also reveals facts that would be impossible to know otherwise. He reveals that there is a Suliban named Silik aboard the Enterprise, who saved the ship, and must be captured by Daniels.

Captain Archer offers Daniel his full cooperation. Silik then makes contact with the captain to find out who is searching for him: he has detected tachyon radiation that would not normally be on the ship. He learns from an unfortunate communication from T'Pol that it is Daniels who is seeking him. Before stunning the captain, he presents relativist arguments about Daniels just being in another faction and not being who he seems to be. He also suggests that the antimatter cascade was not accidental.

Doctor Phlox revives Archer, who realizes that Silik stole Daniels' temporal observatory from his quarters. After Tucker works out how Daniel's sensor system works, he pinpoints Silik's location. Archer goes after him with another device that allows him to walk through walls. After a brief struggle in the shuttlebay, during which turbulence from the Plume disrupts both men, Archer destroys the temporal observatory device with a phase pistol. Silik escapes, however, by flinging himself out of the shuttlebay, before being picked up by a Suliban ship. The last words Silik tells the captain are "You may have endangered your future, Jon," leaving the captain with a final puzzle.

On the bridge, Archer orders Daniels' quarters to be sealed, stating that there may be more technology inside.

"If you don't mind my asking, what brings you here?"
"A job. I'm escorting a group of spiritually minded men on a pilgrimage to the Great Plume of Agosoria."
"The - the what?"
"Every eleven years one of the protostars gives out a neutron blast. These gentlemen believe it's a sacred event. If you ask me, I think it's just another ball of hydrogen!"

- Archer and Captain Fraddock

"It's customary on Earth to greet someone with a... handshake."

- Archer, to Prah Mantoos

"For you, Captain."
"It's beautiful. What, uh, exactly is it?"
"A clock! It charts time from the beginning of the universe."

- Prah Mantoos and Archer

"Aren't you going to take the chair?"
"What?"
"You're in command!"
"I'm fine right here."
"Haven't you ever wondered what it's like?"
"I can wait until I'm promoted."
"Okay..." (Mayweather thinks about it, then takes his place in the Captain's chair.)
"Nice fit."
"The bridge looks a lot different from here. Think anyone would mind if I fired a torpedo?"

- Hoshi and Mayweather

"I see you already know a thing or two about starship engines."
"I'm a warp field theorist."

- Tucker and Sonsorra

"You might want to focus your sensors on that plasma lightning up ahead."
"We're aware of it."
"You ever been in a plasma storm?"
"Twice."
"Then you know it can get a little bumpy. I suggest we try and go around it."

- Captain Fraddock and T'Pol

"We've got a power surge in the impulse relays. Here's a good example of how we can reroute the energy flow to protect our critical systems."

Background Information

The restrictiveness of the set for the service junction shown near the end of this episode made filming the episode's climactic fight scene, between Archer and Silik, a difficult task. "You've really gotta create some different types of choreographed sequences when you're in tight like that," Stunt Coordinator Vince Deadrick, Jr. said of the tightly confined area. (Star Trek: Communicator issue 138, p. 42)

According to dates given, this episode actually takes place a week after the next episode, "Silent Enemy".

This is the Humanoid Figure's only appearance on the series which is not in either a season premiere or season finale.

This episode marks the first appearance of Daniels (Matt Winston) on the series.

This episode also marks the first time Silik's name is given.

This episode marks the first appearance of movie night. Ensign Mayweather gripes that out of 50,000 titles in the movie database, they could find no better movie than Night of the Killer Androids. It further implies that Reed and Sato frequent the event.

This episode marks the first appearance of T'Pol's disbelief in time travel, based on the Vulcan Science Directorate's conclusions.

Both the Temporal Observatory and the phasing device are lost in this episode, but Daniels' Temporal Database remains to be used in "Shockwave" and "Future Tense", the latter episode featuring its final appearance in the series.

The unofficial reference bookBeyond the Final Frontier (p. 363) describes this outing as "a scrappy episode, but one that adds a new twist to the Temporal Cold War." The book goes on to say, "There are tantalising hints, but nothing really meaty to get excited about."

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